Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Revised Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina), 38575-38576 [2011-16456]
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 127 / Friday, July 1, 2011 / Rules and Regulations
the purposes of judicial review nor does
it extend the time within which a
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and shall not postpone the effectiveness
of such rule or action. Parties with
objections to this direct final rule are
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response to the parallel notice of
proposed rulemaking for this action
published in the Proposed Rules section
of today’s Federal Register, rather than
file an immediate petition for judicial
review of this direct final rule, so that
EPA can withdraw this direct final rule
and address the comment in the
proposed rulemaking. This action may
not be challenged later in proceedings to
enforce its requirements (see section
307(b)(2)).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Dated: June 14, 2011.
Jared Blumenfeld,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
Part 52, Chapter I, Title 40 of the Code
of Federal Regulations is amended as
follows:
PART 52—[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for Part 52
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart F—California
2. Section 52.222 is amended by
adding paragraphs (a)(6)(vii) and (viii)
to read as follows:
■
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with RULES
Negative declarations.
(a) * * *
(6) * * *
(vii) Large Appliances, Surface
Coating; Wood Furniture Surface
Coating; Gasoline Bulk Plants,
Equipment Leaks from Natural Gas/
Gasoline Processing Plants; Leaks from
Petroleum Refinery Equipment; Air
Oxidation Processes (SOCMI); Reactor
and Distillation Processes (SOCMI);
Tank Truck Gasoline Loading Terminals
> 76,000 L; Manufacture of Synthesized
Pharmaceutical Products; Manufacture
of Pneumatic Rubber Tires; Manufacture
of High Density Polyethylene,
Polypropylene and Polystyrene;
Equipment Used in Synthetic Organic
Chemical Polymers and Resin
Manufacturing; Refinery VacuumProducing Systems, Wastewater
Separators and Process Unit
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:02 Jun 30, 2011
Jkt 223001
[FR Doc. 2011–16481 Filed 6–30–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations,
Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic
compounds.
§ 52.222
Turnarounds; and Magnetic Wire
Coating Operations submitted on
January 31, 2007 and adopted on
September 19, 2006.
(viii) Ship Repair Operations; Storage
of Petroleum Liquids in Fixed Roof
Tanks; and Petroleum Liquid Storage in
External Floating Roof Tanks submitted
on January 7, 2011 and adopted on
October 19, 2010.
*
*
*
*
*
[FWS–R1–ES–2011–N020; 10120–1113–
0000–C2]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants; Revised Recovery Plan for
the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix
occidentalis caurina)
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability:
revised recovery plan.
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, announce the
availability of the Revised Recovery
Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix
occidentalis caurina), a northwestern
U.S. species listed as threatened under
the Endangered Species Act (Act). The
Act requires the development of
recovery plans for listed species, unless
such a plan would not promote the
conservation of a particular species.
Recovery plans help guide conservation
efforts by describing actions considered
necessary for the recovery of the
species, establishing criteria for
downlisting or delisting listed species,
and estimating time and cost for
implementing the measures needed for
recovery.
DATES: Effective July 1, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the
revised recovery plan are available
online at: https://www.fws.gov/
endangered/species/recovery-plans.html
and https://www.fws.gov/species/nso.
Loose-leaf printed copies of the revised
recovery plan are available by request
from the State Supervisor, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Oregon Fish and
Wildlife Office, 2600 SE 98th Avenue,
Suite 100, Attention: Diana Acosta,
Portland, OR 97266 (phone: 503/231–
6179).
PO 00000
Frm 00029
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
38575
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.
Paul Henson, State Supervisor, at the
above address and phone number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Recovery of endangered or threatened
animals and plants and the ecosystems
upon which they depend is a primary
goal of our endangered species program
and the Endangered Species Act (Act)
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). Recovery means
improvement of the status of listed
species to the point at which listing is
no longer necessary under the criteria
set out in section 4(a)(1) of the Act.
The Act requires the development of
recovery plans for listed species unless
such a plan would not promote the
conservation of a particular species.
Recovery plans help guide conservation
efforts by describing such site-specific
management actions as may be
necessary to achieve the plan’s goal for
the conservation and survival of the
species, establishing criteria for
delisting in accordance with the
provisions of section 4 of the Act, and
estimating the time and cost for
implementing those measures needed to
achieve the plan’s goal and intermediate
steps toward that goal.
Section 4(f) of the Act requires that
public notice and an opportunity for
public review and comment be provided
during recovery plan development. In
fulfillment of this requirement, we made
the Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the
Northern Spotted Owl available for
public review and comment from
September 15 through November 15,
2010 (September 15, 2010; 75 FR 56131)
and then extended the comment period
from November 30 through December
15, 2010 (November 30, 2010; 75 FR
74073). In addition, we reopened the
comment period from April 22 through
May 23, 2011 (April 22, 2011; 76 FR
22720) on an updated version of
Appendix C of the draft revised
recovery plan, which describes the
development of a spotted owl habitat
modeling tool. As we prepared this final
revised recovery plan, we considered
information provided during the public
comment periods. An appendix to the
plan will guide readers to a Web address
where summarized responses to
comments can be reviewed.
The northern spotted owl (hereafter,
spotted owl) was Federally listed as a
threatened species on June 26, 1990 (55
FR 26114). The current range of the
spotted owl extends from southwest
British Columbia through the Cascade
Mountains, coastal ranges, and
intervening forested lands in
Washington, Oregon, and California, as
far south as Marin County. Spotted owls
E:\FR\FM\01JYR1.SGM
01JYR1
38576
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 127 / Friday, July 1, 2011 / Rules and Regulations
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with RULES
generally rely on older forested habitats,
because such forests contain the
structures and characteristics required
for nesting, roosting, and foraging.
Features that support nesting and
roosting typically include a moderate to
high forest canopy closure (60 to 90
percent); a multilayered, multispecies
forest canopy with large overstory trees;
a high incidence of large trees with
various deformities (large cavities,
broken tops, mistletoe infections, and
other evidence of decadence); large
snags (dead trees); large accumulations
of fallen trees and other woody debris
on the ground; and sufficient open
space below the forest canopy for
spotted owls to fly. Foraging habitat
generally has attributes similar to
nesting and roosting habitat, but may
also include areas with less structural
diversity and lower canopy cover.
Habitat characteristics are known to
vary across the range of the species.
The spotted owl was listed as
threatened throughout its range due to
the loss of suitable habitat to timber
harvesting, exacerbated by catastrophic
events such as fire and wind storms.
Today we recognize past habitat loss,
current habitat loss, and competition
from barred owls (Strix varia) as the
most pressing threats to spotted owl
persistence. The recovery actions in this
revised recovery plan are designed to
address these and other threats within
the range of the spotted owl.
In May of 2008, we published the
Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted
Owl and announced its availability in
the Federal Register (May 21, 2008; 73
FR 29471). The 2008 recovery plan
formed the basis for our revised
designation of spotted owl critical
habitat, which we published in the
Federal Register on August 13, 2008 (73
FR 47325). Both the 2008 critical habitat
designation and the 2008 recovery plan
were challenged in court: Carpenters’
Industrial Council v. Salazar, Case No.
1:08–cv–01409–EGS (D.DC). In addition,
on December 15, 2008, the Inspector
General of the Department of the
Interior issued a report entitled
‘‘Investigative Report of The Endangered
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:02 Jun 30, 2011
Jkt 223001
Species Act and the Conflict between
Science and Policy,’’ which concluded
that the integrity of the agency
decisionmaking process for the spotted
owl recovery plan was potentially
jeopardized by improper political
influence. As a result, the Federal
government filed a motion in the
lawsuit for remand of the 2008 recovery
plan and critical habitat designation. On
September 1, 2010, the Court issued an
opinion remanding the 2008 recovery
plan to us for issuance of a revised plan
within 9 months. On October 12, 2010,
the Court remanded the 2008 critical
habitat designation and ordered the
Service to issue a new proposed critical
habitat rule for public comment by
November 15, 2010, and a final rule by
November 15, 2012. On May 6, 2011,
the Court granted our request for an
extension of the due date for issuance of
the final revised recovery plan until July
1, 2011. This notice announces the
availability of the final revision to the
2008 recovery plan.
The revised recovery plan is based on
a review of all relevant biology,
including new scientific information
that has become available and critical
peer review comments we received on
the 2008 recovery plan from three
professional scientific associations: The
Wildlife Society, the American
Ornithologists’ Union, and The Society
for Conservation Biology. Like several
previous plans for conserving and
recovering the spotted owl, the 2008
recovery plan recommended a network
of large habitat blocks, or Managed Owl
Conservation Areas (MOCAs), intended
to support long-term recovery of the
species. The peer review comments,
however, were critical of this network
for several reasons, including that we
did not use updated modeling
techniques to design the network and
assess its efficacy.
The revised recovery plan prioritizes
recovery tasks aimed at: (1) Maintaining
and managing for an adequate amount
of spotted owl habitat across the
species’ range; (2) restoring natural
processes in the dry forest landscapes
such that the impacts of habitat loss
PO 00000
Frm 00030
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 9990
through climate change are minimized;
and (3) conducting large-scale
experiments on the effects of barred owl
removal in areas where the two species
co-occur. The goal of this recovery plan
is to improve the status of the spotted
owl so that it no longer requires the
protections of the Endangered Species
Act.
The revised recovery plan is different
from the 2008 recovery plan in several
respects. We initiated a scientifically
rigorous, multi-step, range-wide
modeling effort to allow comparison of
estimated spotted owl population
performance among alternative habitat
conservation scenarios and other
conservation strategies. We are
withdrawing our previous
recommendation to implement the
MOCA network identified in the 2008
recovery plan and instead recommend
continuing to rely upon the Northwest
Forest Plan and designated critical
habitat. Until spotted owl population
trends improve, the revised recovery
plan also recommends conserving
spotted owl sites and high value spotted
owl habitat to provide additional
demographic support to the spotted owl
population and refugia from barred
owls. The revised recovery plan also
recognizes the possibility of needing
additional conservation contributions
from non-Federal lands. Finally, the
revised recovery plan affirms our
support for forest restoration
management actions that address
concerns about climate change and
health of forest ecosystems and promote
long-term spotted owl recovery.
Authority
The authority for this action is section
4(f) of the Endangered Species Act, 16
U.S.C. 1533(f).
Dated: June 6, 2011.
Robyn Thorson,
Regional Director, Region 1, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2011–16456 Filed 6–30–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
E:\FR\FM\01JYR1.SGM
01JYR1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 127 (Friday, July 1, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 38575-38576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-16456]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[FWS-R1-ES-2011-N020; 10120-1113-0000-C2]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Revised Recovery
Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina)
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability: revised recovery plan.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the
availability of the Revised Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl
(Strix occidentalis caurina), a northwestern U.S. species listed as
threatened under the Endangered Species Act (Act). The Act requires the
development of recovery plans for listed species, unless such a plan
would not promote the conservation of a particular species. Recovery
plans help guide conservation efforts by describing actions considered
necessary for the recovery of the species, establishing criteria for
downlisting or delisting listed species, and estimating time and cost
for implementing the measures needed for recovery.
DATES: Effective July 1, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the revised recovery plan are available
online at: https://www.fws.gov/endangered/species/recovery-plans.html
and https://www.fws.gov/species/nso. Loose-leaf printed copies of the
revised recovery plan are available by request from the State
Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Fish and Wildlife
Office, 2600 SE 98th Avenue, Suite 100, Attention: Diana Acosta,
Portland, OR 97266 (phone: 503/231-6179).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Paul Henson, State Supervisor, at
the above address and phone number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Recovery of endangered or threatened animals and plants and the
ecosystems upon which they depend is a primary goal of our endangered
species program and the Endangered Species Act (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). Recovery means improvement of the status of listed species to
the point at which listing is no longer necessary under the criteria
set out in section 4(a)(1) of the Act.
The Act requires the development of recovery plans for listed
species unless such a plan would not promote the conservation of a
particular species. Recovery plans help guide conservation efforts by
describing such site-specific management actions as may be necessary to
achieve the plan's goal for the conservation and survival of the
species, establishing criteria for delisting in accordance with the
provisions of section 4 of the Act, and estimating the time and cost
for implementing those measures needed to achieve the plan's goal and
intermediate steps toward that goal.
Section 4(f) of the Act requires that public notice and an
opportunity for public review and comment be provided during recovery
plan development. In fulfillment of this requirement, we made the Draft
Revised Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl available for public
review and comment from September 15 through November 15, 2010
(September 15, 2010; 75 FR 56131) and then extended the comment period
from November 30 through December 15, 2010 (November 30, 2010; 75 FR
74073). In addition, we reopened the comment period from April 22
through May 23, 2011 (April 22, 2011; 76 FR 22720) on an updated
version of Appendix C of the draft revised recovery plan, which
describes the development of a spotted owl habitat modeling tool. As we
prepared this final revised recovery plan, we considered information
provided during the public comment periods. An appendix to the plan
will guide readers to a Web address where summarized responses to
comments can be reviewed.
The northern spotted owl (hereafter, spotted owl) was Federally
listed as a threatened species on June 26, 1990 (55 FR 26114). The
current range of the spotted owl extends from southwest British
Columbia through the Cascade Mountains, coastal ranges, and intervening
forested lands in Washington, Oregon, and California, as far south as
Marin County. Spotted owls
[[Page 38576]]
generally rely on older forested habitats, because such forests contain
the structures and characteristics required for nesting, roosting, and
foraging. Features that support nesting and roosting typically include
a moderate to high forest canopy closure (60 to 90 percent); a
multilayered, multispecies forest canopy with large overstory trees; a
high incidence of large trees with various deformities (large cavities,
broken tops, mistletoe infections, and other evidence of decadence);
large snags (dead trees); large accumulations of fallen trees and other
woody debris on the ground; and sufficient open space below the forest
canopy for spotted owls to fly. Foraging habitat generally has
attributes similar to nesting and roosting habitat, but may also
include areas with less structural diversity and lower canopy cover.
Habitat characteristics are known to vary across the range of the
species.
The spotted owl was listed as threatened throughout its range due
to the loss of suitable habitat to timber harvesting, exacerbated by
catastrophic events such as fire and wind storms. Today we recognize
past habitat loss, current habitat loss, and competition from barred
owls (Strix varia) as the most pressing threats to spotted owl
persistence. The recovery actions in this revised recovery plan are
designed to address these and other threats within the range of the
spotted owl.
In May of 2008, we published the Recovery Plan for the Northern
Spotted Owl and announced its availability in the Federal Register (May
21, 2008; 73 FR 29471). The 2008 recovery plan formed the basis for our
revised designation of spotted owl critical habitat, which we published
in the Federal Register on August 13, 2008 (73 FR 47325). Both the 2008
critical habitat designation and the 2008 recovery plan were challenged
in court: Carpenters' Industrial Council v. Salazar, Case No. 1:08-cv-
01409-EGS (D.DC). In addition, on December 15, 2008, the Inspector
General of the Department of the Interior issued a report entitled
``Investigative Report of The Endangered Species Act and the Conflict
between Science and Policy,'' which concluded that the integrity of the
agency decisionmaking process for the spotted owl recovery plan was
potentially jeopardized by improper political influence. As a result,
the Federal government filed a motion in the lawsuit for remand of the
2008 recovery plan and critical habitat designation. On September 1,
2010, the Court issued an opinion remanding the 2008 recovery plan to
us for issuance of a revised plan within 9 months. On October 12, 2010,
the Court remanded the 2008 critical habitat designation and ordered
the Service to issue a new proposed critical habitat rule for public
comment by November 15, 2010, and a final rule by November 15, 2012. On
May 6, 2011, the Court granted our request for an extension of the due
date for issuance of the final revised recovery plan until July 1,
2011. This notice announces the availability of the final revision to
the 2008 recovery plan.
The revised recovery plan is based on a review of all relevant
biology, including new scientific information that has become available
and critical peer review comments we received on the 2008 recovery plan
from three professional scientific associations: The Wildlife Society,
the American Ornithologists' Union, and The Society for Conservation
Biology. Like several previous plans for conserving and recovering the
spotted owl, the 2008 recovery plan recommended a network of large
habitat blocks, or Managed Owl Conservation Areas (MOCAs), intended to
support long-term recovery of the species. The peer review comments,
however, were critical of this network for several reasons, including
that we did not use updated modeling techniques to design the network
and assess its efficacy.
The revised recovery plan prioritizes recovery tasks aimed at: (1)
Maintaining and managing for an adequate amount of spotted owl habitat
across the species' range; (2) restoring natural processes in the dry
forest landscapes such that the impacts of habitat loss through climate
change are minimized; and (3) conducting large-scale experiments on the
effects of barred owl removal in areas where the two species co-occur.
The goal of this recovery plan is to improve the status of the spotted
owl so that it no longer requires the protections of the Endangered
Species Act.
The revised recovery plan is different from the 2008 recovery plan
in several respects. We initiated a scientifically rigorous, multi-
step, range-wide modeling effort to allow comparison of estimated
spotted owl population performance among alternative habitat
conservation scenarios and other conservation strategies. We are
withdrawing our previous recommendation to implement the MOCA network
identified in the 2008 recovery plan and instead recommend continuing
to rely upon the Northwest Forest Plan and designated critical habitat.
Until spotted owl population trends improve, the revised recovery plan
also recommends conserving spotted owl sites and high value spotted owl
habitat to provide additional demographic support to the spotted owl
population and refugia from barred owls. The revised recovery plan also
recognizes the possibility of needing additional conservation
contributions from non-Federal lands. Finally, the revised recovery
plan affirms our support for forest restoration management actions that
address concerns about climate change and health of forest ecosystems
and promote long-term spotted owl recovery.
Authority
The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the Endangered
Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).
Dated: June 6, 2011.
Robyn Thorson,
Regional Director, Region 1, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-16456 Filed 6-30-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
